In telephony, interactive voice response (IVR) provides a phone technology that allows a computer or voice response unit (VRU) to detect voice and touch tones using a normal phone call. The VRU can respond with pre-recorded or dynamically generated audio to further direct callers on how to proceed. VRUs can be used to control almost any function where the interface can be broken down into a series of simple menu choices or options. Once constructed, VRUs generally scale well to handle large call volumes.
In operation, a caller dials a telephone number that is answered by the VRU. The VRU executes an application which is tied to the number dialed DNIS (Dialed Number Identification Service). As part of the application, prerecorded audio files or dynamically generated Text to Speech (TTS) audio explain the options available to the caller. The caller is given the choice to select options using DTMF tones or spoken words. Speech recognition may be used to carry out more complex transactions and simplifies the application menu structure.
Unfortunately, interfacing with a VRU can be annoying for people as the presentation of information is inherently slow. Moreover, gathering information, such as balance information or payment due dates, from multiple companies that utilize VRUs requires a significant amount of user interaction. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for allowing users to more effectively harvest data from VRUs.